Last weekend I had the opportunity to spend some time in Estonia and see how ETV+, Estonia's Russian-language TV channel, works.
There are three public television channels in Estonia. There is ETV in Estonian, which is comparable to our LTV1, and ETV2, which has some similarities with LTV7. The third is ETV+, the Estonian public service broadcaster, which broadcasts in Russian with Estonian subtitles.
The Estonian government decided on the need for a Russian-language information channel after the annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine in 2014. ETV+ started broadcasting in September 2015. Before that, there were ideas of running a common Baltic channel in Russian, but on the Latvian side, this project was being joined by well-known money-grabbers, fanatical preachers of liberal ideology, and other people. The joint project did not succeed, but this is also because the main task of Estonian public television is to defend Estonian interests. ETV's official mission is to develop Estonian life and "care for the country". In a very diplomatic way, it is stated that the mission of Estonian public television is to defend Estonia's interests. ETV's vision is to be the leading media organization with the greatest public trust and influence. There is no abstract talk of "editorial independence". Here are but a few of the issues discussed last weekend at ETV+. How can women apply to join the Estonian army? Is shopping only at Lidl supermarkets in Estonia's interests? It isn't! Therefore, there is a call to ask Lidl sales assistants which are the Estonian products and to make sure to buy precisely them in the supermarket. Etc.
It is not in Estonia's interests to provoke conflicts with Estonia's very large Russian minority. How should we now treat those Estonians who still believe the Kremlin's propaganda? Because in many Estonian families, conflicts between the generations are developing because of different views on the Ukrainian war and Russia. For example, what answers did psychologist Oksana Peetsalu give to these questions on ETV+'s "Horizon (Gorizont)" on April 17?
Oksana Peetsalu: "It is impossible to find out the truth in an argument if the argument concerns questions about values that people believe in."
What if elderly family members try to engage you in such a discussion?
"Don't answer! Walk away from the question" ... "It's not that all those people who have been watching only Russian channels for the last few years are for Putin. On the contrary. Almost all these people are as horrified about the war as everyone else. Almost all of them are very good and kind-hearted people who wish their children and grandchildren well, who have never done anything untoward in their entire lives, who have never supported killing."
Oksana Peetsalu explains that when the USSR collapsed and the status of the Estonian language and culture was restored, these people were labelled as "occupiers", a label that was offensive to many of them. The alternative offered by Putin was much more palatable: "You are part of the great Russian people, part of the great Russian culture, etc." It was much more pleasant for them to accept this designation of their status.
Oksana Peetsalu invites: "Don't get involved in arguments! You will not convince them."
And the overall conclusion - peace and harmony in the family are better than hopeless attempts to persuade the elderly to abandon their views.
In addition to original Estonian content, ETV+ continues to show Russian detective series, Russian and foreign films about cultural events in Russia, the lives of Russian national minorities, etc.
The big difference between Latvia and Estonia is that, with the Russian propaganda channels switched off, Latvia has no information to offer to the Russian minority in Latvia. Estonia, on the other hand, already has a high-quality Russian-language information channel, whose staff now has seven years of experience.
However, the main point is this. At this point, Estonia has formulated that it is in its interests to avoid conflicts with the Estonian Russian minority as much as possible, and not to provoke them in any way.
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